Cayuga County recommends new financial software

Cayuga County's government operations committee tonight recommended the Munis system from Tyler to replace 20-year-old computer software that officials blame for the annual fiscal report being more than three months late.

Munis was the only one of three software systems evaluated that meets all the county's requirements and has a proper audit trail, according to the committee. It is the most expensive of the three, topping $750,000.

"Price is not a factor this time," said County Treasurer Jim Orman. "We're dealing not only with the present but with the future as well. We want something that will last and be efficient."

The old system was pieced together over the years by different firms. "Entries appear and disappear. We don't know where they go," Deputy Treasurer Paul Padlick said. "It wasn't tallying right either, so someone has to go through and assure everything was correct. We've taken an inordinate amount of time on it."

The government operations committee will reconvene to either support or question the recommendation. The county Legislature will then be asked to approve the purchase of a software system.